ThePADDLER 36
Is Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle contained to FB ? Are you planning to expand on other social media sites or the web , and if not , why not ? Lawrence ( Champ ) Carter started on Instagram . There are some stunning images on there ; however , I ’ m not familiar enough with the platform to be of much help with that . I wouldn ’ t mind if there were a better social media site for Church , as I have mixed feelings about Facebook . It has allowed me to create the group and meet thousands of paddlers , so I am grateful for it , but it feels less active than it used to be . I sometimes wonder what someone with more brains and initiative could have done with Church , but it ’ s never been about making money , but about community . It ’ s a good community .
What gave you the idea to start the world ’ s largest FaceBook paddling group , and what was the initial purpose ? I met a few paddlers online in other groups , but I wanted to meet more paddlers from all over the world and see what they were up to . It ’ s worked a treat . I ’ m not sure what made Church grow the way it has . We ’ ve always been inclusive and worked hard on a culture of kindness , which seems rare on social media . There are so many people who skulk around the internet , finding fault with others . We learned to recognize them very quickly and excommunicate them . We embrace the whole judge not , lest ye be judged thing . Sometimes people don ’ t understand and judge us harshly , but they don ’ t have to .
How time-consuming is running the FB group , and what help do you get from other paddlers ? Don ’ t tell anyone , but it ’ s very little work these days . It ’ s sort of self-policing . When folks get unruly , the rest of the congregation either talks them down or lets one of the admins know , and we ’ re quick to deal with the problem . Also , I ’ ve found I ’ m so fortunate in the co-admins of the group . They have so much that I ’ m lacking because I ’ m just a poser ; I have no expertise , limited experience , I ’ ve never travelled , have hardly paddled whitewater , and can ’ t surf and don ’ t have the resources to hoard boats like some people . I am just passionate about paddling ; I like to go fast , and I started a paddling group at the perfect time . The perfection of that time would include meeting Cat , who was perfectly social media savvy . She was clear that the group should not be a cult of personality . Sometimes that line is blurred now , and I wish she were here to re-ink it .
Are you well-recognized in the paddling community in North America , or can you still slip under the radar ? Ah … I look like the grandmother I am . So most often , people are surprised to meet me and learn about the group or that I am the founder of it . Once , on my way home from the SDKC , a man stopped me in a rest area parking lot and asked , “ This is random , but are you Casle ?” He ’ d been following the race updates that Cat Severson posted the day before and was keeping an eye out for me as he headed to Montana . I can ’ t go anywhere . LOL .
Which gives you a bigger buzz , touring , sea kayaking , canoeing , SUP or is it all about being on the water with fellow paddlers ? The biggest buzz is moving fast downriver alone or with one other fast paddler . I ’ ve only been on the ocean a few times and would love to go again , but I always want to do that with people who know much more than me .
If you could capture just one ‘ feel good ’ moment in your times of paddling – which would it be and why ? I think paddling is all about those feel-good moments , and capturing and remembering them is a strength and a comfort when you can ’ t get on the water and your soul is yearning to be afloat . So I have a ton of them . But … taking kids paddling is my favourite thing . I am a children ’ s librarian , and for our Summer Reading Program , one of the prizes in our draw was a kayak trip with me . Kids got ten chances at a variety of prizes . I didn ’ t tell them , but if they put all ten tickets in the kayak trip bucket , they got to go no matter what . One year I took 29 kids and parents kayaking in one day . At the end of that day , my friend who helped said that he couldn ’ t think of a better way to spend a day . I couldn ’ t either .
WHICH STRETCH OR BODY OF WATER ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WOULD BE ON YOUR BUCKET LIST , AND WHY IT FLICKS YOUR SWITCH ?
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If I have to narrow it down , a solo down a long river , probably the Missouri . I think the solitude , the time alone with no one waiting for me , would be a rare peace I ’ ve never had . I also want to paddle in Chile and Thailand and spend lots more time paddling off Vancouver Island .